Self Love and all that it is….
Have you heard the quote, “How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you”? Its from a Canadian poet, Rupi Kuar who wrote Milk and Honey at 21 years of age. She has written two more books all of which have been bestsellers. She has more amazing quotes by the way, that was one that just stuck out today. But enough on Rupi, I’m sure I provided ample evidence for which to compare our lives and achievements to.. (comparison is the destroyer of joy- so don’t it) and so forget Rupi, for the moment and let’s focus back on the topic at hand: LOVE.
Yes it’s February, those of us that are single and may be totally ok with it, but there is still something about Valentine’s Day that is a REMINDER that this is a day for COUPLES not single people. I don’t think we get a DAY.
That’s fine, I get to take naps and to do what I want. But I digress!
There is no greater power than love! Love has the ability to heal the world. Love is pure and decent, innocent and true.
When the energy of love takes hold of you, resistance is futile. It has the capacity to heal old wounds and cleanse you of any negativity that does not serve you.
As stated in Corinthians 13:13, “Three things will last forever — faith, hope and love — and the greatest of these is love.”
Love can take many forms. There is love we feel for our family, a child and a friend, as well as the love we feel for our pets. There is the in love feeling we feel towards a beloved.
Then, there is love that is referred to as self-love, meaning the love of self. Why is it so hard to love ourselves as we are? Why do we seek validation, acceptance, recognition and acknowledgement from others? The truth is that we are seeking love outside of ourselves. We are putting those outside of ourselves responsible for us loving ourselves.
At times, we don’t realize that we are seeking love from others in the form of approval. Sometimes we believe our actions and behaviors are coming from a true place, but sometimes they come with an agenda of seeking love.
This is not a bad thing. It is human nature to seek approval and love outside of ourselves.
The key is to be aware that we are seeking love outside of ourselves.
Once we are aware, we can start to look inside of ourselves and cultivate love and acceptance of ourselves.
I find that many people lack self-love. Maybe that’s because it has always been such a struggle for me. I think I am finally getting better about it… Today though is not about me really it’s to pontificate on Self Love, for YOU!
The concept of self-love has been used by so many to describe loving yourself. What exactly is it? What will having it mean for our lives?
Self-love at its core is self-acceptance of who you are just as you are, the good and not-so-good parts of yourself. It’s about self-respect and self-empowerment. It’s about self-care and looking after yourself and having compassion for yourself when you are going through a hard time. It’s about honoring your heart’s desires and being true to yourself. It’s about knowing deep down that you matter and that you are enough as you are. You have nothing to prove, and you just need to be yourself and give of yourself to others.
Imagine a world where people just loved themselves for who they are. It would be a world full of people resonating love from their hearts, and their state of being would be love.
Imagine this energy of love where people were kind to each other and touched each other with their hearts, their words, with their eyes and their generosity of spirit. As Louis Armstrong sang “What a Wonderful World,” in fact, it would be a world where people were no longer projecting their fears and insecurities onto others in hope of receiving love or validation. There would be no need for that, as people would seek the validation and love within themselves.
Each and every one of us has access to this well of love deep down inside of us — no exceptions.
This source of love within ourselves is limitless and timeless. It will never run out, and when you tap into it, you have accessed something that you can depend on. It is always with you.
Love is who we are. It is our state of being, and anything else is fear. When we partner up with love, our lives begin to magically transform in ways we could never dream of. When we give ourselves permission to do what we love and be who we love to be, we become free to be our true selves.
The beauty of this is that as we give ourselves permission to be our loving selves, we affect other people around us. Our energy radiates out into the world and affects others whether we know it or not.
You know this to be true because you have felt this in your own life.
You have been standing in a queue waiting for a long time, and you finally get to the counter to be served only to be in a bad mood. The person who serves you has a smile on their face and greets you with care and respect. They are there to serve you, and they do it gladly and lovingly. In that instant, something happens. Your heart starts to feel warm, and your bad mood and impatience melt away. You have experienced love resonating from another person, and it has transformed your experience.
This is the power of love; it has the ability to transform an ordinary moment into something magical.
Love is similar to alchemy, as both are capable of transmuting something basic to something gold.
We are living in a time where there is so much need for love, more so than ever. It starts with each of us reaching deep inside and connecting to our true nature, which is love, and offering our loving selves to others, not because we seek anything, but rather because our cup is full of love and we have nothing more to do than simply share it with others.
I invite you today to be the change you want to see in the world, to be love and loving towards yourself and others.
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